I’ve been blogging about sustainability for a little while now: reducing plastic usage, eating local when possible, reducing consumption and food waste, using vegan and vegetarian alternatives to meat and diary to reduce your carbon foot print. But I’ve long had to bite my tongue on watching and reading bloggers who post clothing “hauls”. The bloggers always looked amazing and the clothing that they picked was undoubtedly great, but also interchangeable with 10,000 other things that they already owned. Plus you could tell the vast majority of these over spilling wardrobes was just going to end up unworn, donated or thrown out. But I bit my tongue at criticising the way that influencers were slotting in to the fast fashion machine because I didn’t want to be called jealous, or a troll.
But a few weeks ago that changed.
Stacey Dooley’s “Fashion’s Dirty Secrets” came out and then suddenly a lot of influencers were having a conversation about consumption and human cost that I’ve never heard them have before. I’ve blogged before about the insidious influence of “fast-fashion” and then overnight I was no longer screaming into the void, but able to have measured conversations on twitter about it. And this is the first step in affecting change. Whilst we all know that nothing will save the environment other than measures from the top down (starting with governments and big industries) none of those big industries are going to change until we the consumers demand it of them. Hopefully, this most recent conversation will inspire more people to “vote with their wallets” and force some of the big fashion players to change their ways if they want to continue to sell clothing.
I mentioned in this post that my fashion mantra (“Buy clothes. Not too many. Mostly ones you love and can wear today” ) is an adaptation of Michael Pollan’s famous food mantra, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
What does that mean for influencers?
They have to make money to pay the bills, right? And brand collaborations and affiliate links are a big part of that. So that’s when the power of the high-stakes influencer could really shine. There are a fair few high street giants that are trying to make changes. Do some research. Focus collaborations with them. Accept collaborations but maybe be more selective; don’t accept collaboration for things you already have, focus on brands you love, focus on brands that are making changes.
You might have to say “no” a few times and that is hard. As someone who is making the transition to being a full-time freelancer, I am desperately trying to make as much money as possible. But I’ve said no to a few recent collaborations when they really don’t feel right to me. Case in point: a rain jacket company who I do genuinely love wanted to work on a piece that involved a gifted raincoat. Sadly, I already own a beautiful raincoat that is in great condition and I just didn’t feel right about accepting a piece of work that would encourage me to have something else just sitting in my wardrobe unused.
Buy new pieces occasionally, but mix them in with things that you already own. Do more posts and instagrams where you are wearing the same outfit again. Style it differently and few people will ever notice. And you’ll still get those affiliate link clicks.
What does this mean for consumers?
If there’s one thing that really isn’t coming across in this post so far, it is my deep love for clothing and style. But what gets lost in translation sometimes is that quantity doesn’t mean style. Some of the most stylish women I know only own a few pieces and they ooze confidence and chicness.
So here are my hints to avoiding the fast-fashion trap:
Unsubscribe to emails. Don’t be swayed by the massive sale signs in brick and mortar high street stores.
We simply don’t need clothing for all the thousands of micro-seasons that are being advertised to us. If you unsubscribe to the emails, you’ll be far less tempted to click. The same goes for not being swayed to go into a store based on its massive sale sign. I know that I am guilty of buying something not because I loved it, but because I thought it was a good deal.
So something that I try to remind myself when I’m resisting the lure: if I’m only paying £2 for this shirt, what was the person who made it paid? And that sobering reality usually helps steer me clear.
Buy from eco-friendly, sustainable, worker-friendly companies.
“Privileged!” I just heard 10,000 trolls roar in my ear! Yes, of course it’s privileged to spend money on clothing. And I completely understand that the fashion companies that are trying to do best by the earth and their employees are more expensive; that’s the nature of the beast. (Though there are a few companies out there whose prices might surprise you!)
So here’s how I think of it. If you are skipping spending a weekly tenner at Primark, then you quickly will have enough for that eco-friendly basic shirt. And again, that’s privileged. Because that’s supposing you even do spend a tenner frivolously on clothes once a week (though I’d reckon that most of my readers, even those without large swathes of disposable income do spend that amount on clothing per week on average.)
Some companies that I recommend are:
People Tree
Fat Face
Everlane
Thought Clothing
Seasalt
Organic Basics (for which I am now an ambassador after having been a loyal customer, I have a discount code: RHYMEANDRIBBONSXOBFR15 )
Beaumont Organic
And blogger Elle Croft has some hugely more extensive lists. Head to her blog to check them out.
Buy second-hand.
There are times that you will need to buy something, and frankly you can’t afford an ethical version of the garment. In my personal life, I didn’t own anything that fit the dress code for the Northern Blog Awards. And though I pined after many a gorgeous ethical fashion gown, I just didn’t have that sort of money.
So I turned to my friend, Ebay and bought a beautiful, modern All Saint’s cocktail dress second-hand. (The dress cost £10 and retailed for £350) Don’t underestimate what you can buy second-hand. And by buying things second hand, you are rescuing garments from rubbish tips and landfills.
Take care of the clothes that you do have
I don’t wash my clothing every time I wear it. In fact, you aren’t supposed to. Of course, underwear gets washed every time, but unless something smells or has been stained I don’t wash it. And I never wash my jeans. (I put them in the freezer to kill the germs/bacteria). If I wear something and I’m not going to wash it, I hang it up and let it air out for 24 hours before putting in back in my wardrobe. Washing your clothing less makes it last way longer (and cuts down on water wastage).
We should all be encouraged to repair our clothing more. We can all learn to do things like simple buttons. But lots of clothes get binned for small rips or lost buttons because we don’t have the time or wherewithal to fix them. My favourite trousers ripped, and my sewing skills are weak, to say the least, so I took them to a local tailor who fixed them for £7. Far cheaper than buying a new pair, and less wasteful.
I’m also a big proponent of getting your shoes re-soled. The soles on my shoes get really worn down (and worn all the way through) whilst the tops still look great, so I often get my soles redone; saving money, shoes and my feet from breaking in a new pair.
Do I really need this?
That’s probably the most pertinent point of all. Do I really need this. The amount of outfits that the average Western woman owns has skyrocketed in the last 75 years. Our favourite screen-goddesses of yore, even the Monroe’s and the Hepburn’s owned far fewer items of clothing than the average university student these days. There’s undoubtedly a thrill that comes from buying and wearing something new. A small adrenalin hit. A tiny bubble of happiness. But do you really need it?
For further watching I really recommend: The True Cost, which is available on Netflix.
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:
The Quest for My Personal Style
Blogging with Intent
Documentaries to Inspire Small Changes
Cutting Down on Plastic Usage
An Introduction to Slow Living
Cruelty Free Beauty
Why I Transitioned to a Plant Based Diet
